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Reasons to Retain Veeva Systems (VEEV) Stock in Your Portfolio

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Veeva Systems Inc. (VEEV - Free Report) is well-poised for growth in the coming quarters, backed by a slew of strategic deals inked over the past few months. A robust first-quarter fiscal 2023 performance, along with a strong product portfolio, is expected to contribute further. Stiff competition and forex woes persist.

Over the past year, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock has lost 33.9% compared with 60% fall of the industry and 9.5% decline of the S&P 500 composite.

The renowned provider of cloud-based software applications and data solutions for the life sciences industry has a market capitalization of $33.78 billion. The company projects 17% growth for the next five years and expects to maintain its strong performance. It has delivered an earnings surprise of 7.4% for the past four quarters, on average.

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Let’s delve deeper.

Strategic Deals to Drive Growth: Veeva Systems has entered into a slew of partnerships over the past few months, raising our optimism. In June, the company announced a collaboration with ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to define and operationalize data-driven commercial strategies for the latter’s new Rare Disease business unit.

In April, Veeva Systems announced that it had expanded its partnership with LEO Pharma to drive relevant discussions within the scientific community using Veeva Link for Key People.

Strong Product Portfolio: We are upbeat about Veeva Systems’ robust product suite, which includes unique solutions like Veeva Vault, Veeva CRM, Veeva Network and Veeva OpenData. The company has also announced mobile innovations in the Veeva CRM platform, which provides information to field teams from any device.

Veeva Systems, in June, unveiled a new study training application — Veeva Vault Study. Another new cloud application of the company is Veeva Vault Training. Veeva Systems also announced its intent to build Veeva MedTech CRM on the Vault Platform to meet the need for a deep, industry-specific solution.

Strong Q1 Results: Veeva Systems’ solid first-quarter fiscal 2023 results buoy optimism. Both of its segments performed impressively during the quarter. The company continues to benefit from its flagship Vault platform, which is encouraging. Veeva Commercial Cloud’s continued strength looks impressive. Expansion of gross margin also bodes well.

Downsides

Forex Woes: Veeva Systems derives a major share of its revenues from international operations. Some of its international agreements provide for payment denominated in local currencies and the majority of its local costs are also denominated in local currencies. Fluctuations in the value of the U.S. dollar versus foreign currencies may impact its operating results when converted into U.S. dollars.

Stiff Competition: Veeva Systems operate in a highly competitive market. In new sales cycles within the company’s largest product categories, it competes with other cloud-based solutions from providers that make applications inclined toward the life sciences industry. The company’s Commercial Cloud and Veeva Vault application suites also compete to replace client-server-based legacy solutions offered by large companies and other smaller application providers.

Estimate Trend

Veeva Systems is witnessing a positive estimate revision trend for 2022. In the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its earnings has moved 2.9% north to $4.14.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s second-quarter fiscal 2023 revenues is pegged at $530.8 million, suggesting a 16.5% improvement from the year-ago quarter’s reported number.

Key Picks

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (AMN - Free Report) , Patterson Companies, Inc. (PDCO - Free Report) and McKesson Corporation (MCK - Free Report) .

AMN Healthcare, flaunting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present, has an estimated long-term growth rate of 3.2%. AMN’s earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the trailing four quarters, the average beat being 15.7%.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

AMN Healthcare has lost 1.8% compared with the industry’s 32.1% fall in the past year.

Patterson Companies, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present, has an estimated long-term growth rate of 7.9%. PDCO’s earnings surpassed estimates in all the trailing four quarters, the average beat being 16.5%.

Patterson Companies has lost 3% compared with the industry’s 8.9% fall over the past year.

McKesson, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present, has an estimated long-term growth rate of 9.9%. MCK’s earnings surpassed estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed the same in one, the average beat being 13%.

McKesson has gained 82.4% against the industry’s 8.9% fall over the past year.

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